


What the hell happened last year?

by Lo__Fi



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Background Relationships, Bullying, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman Friendship, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Prequel, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Underage Drinking, posie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lo__Fi/pseuds/Lo__Fi
Summary: Wondering what happened between Josie and Penelope... and Lizzie... and Hope ... before season 1 of Legacies? Me too. Here's what I came up with.My thoughts on how Posie met, got together, and broke up. Where did the Lizzie / Penelope conflict come from? Apparently it started right at the start. What was Hope doing all this time? All sorts of secret things. Everyone else? They will make appearances. What about Caroline!? She will be here for a minute.Let me know what you think and if I should continue. I have a story in my head and if time permits, will post short chapters weekly.
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 16
Kudos: 85





	1. I'm Sure You'll Get Along Great!

Chapter One  
I'm sure you'll get along great!

"Josette. Saltzman. Are you ready for this new year to begin? To stand with me as leaders of this ancient, though aesthetically pleasing, supernatural institution we call our high school? To - "

Josie rolls her eyes as she interrupts her twin sister, "Elizabeth. Jenna. Saltzman. It is way too early for this."

"Ughhh… Josie! I was in the middle of a thing!" Lizzie throws her arms up, exasperated. 

The twins stand outside the Salvatore Boarding School, staring up at the place they have called home for most of their lives, with the exception of summers spent with supernatural relatives and friends spread across the country. 

"This is serious." Lizzie starts again, "We are about to embark on a whole new school year." She turns to look at her sister, grabbing her by the shoulders. "An opportunity to start fresh, Josie. To become the witches everyone looks up to and respects! To be admired not only by our fellow witches, but also by those barbaric - "

"Yes and referring to them as barbarians will definitely get us there." Josie interrupts again, gently pulling Lizzie's arms down.

"Josie." Lizzie grabs her sister by the shoulders again with a serious look in her eyes. Josie places her hands over sisters', allowing the contact, "Lizzie?" 

"I'm serious. I feel it. This is our year." She continues, "It's time to put everything that happened the last couple of years behind us. The Hope debacle, all those nasty rumors, our disastrous spring break… just everything." Lizzie gets teary eyed for a moment and breathes in deeply, "Oh! And I'm pretty sure mom and dad are going to be running things together this year!" She squeals, as she finally let's go of Josie's shoulders, bringing her hand to her chest. "And with you by my side," Lizzie looks at her sister with genuine affection, "my sweet, amazing twin sister. The only person in this world I can truly trust. Nothing can go wrong." Josie flinches at this, but Lizzie doesn’t seem to notice, "I'm telling you… Best. School Year. EVER!"

Josie smiles at her sister, trying to hide the guilt about everything that had occurred in the past, "you're right Lizzie," she finally says, still smiling, "this is our year." 

Lizzie squeals again and pulls her sister into a tight hug which is promptly returned. 

"Okay, girls… if you're all done with whatever this is. Could you please help with all your luggage?" Alaric calls out from the trunk of the white Tahoe. 

"Never mind your dad," Caroline laughs as she grabs a handful of luggage, disappears into the school, and get back to the girls in a second. "Also, I heard that barbaric comment. Not cool, Lizzie. Not cool." The blonde vampire brings her daughters in for a tight squeeze. "I didn't mean _you_ mom." Lizzie exhales, "I'm referring to the _teen vamps_." Caroline raises an eyebrow at her daughter, "Like _actual_ teens, not turned as a teen but actually old vamps." 

"Okayyy…" Josie intercepts, "Let's stop now and see if we can't take that foot out of your mouth."

"Caroline." Alaric walks up with his own bags over his shoulder as Caroline releases the twins. "How am I going to teach them to be self-sufficient if you keep vamping everything for them?"

The conversation is cut short as all four turn to look at a black town car approaching the drive way. 

"New recruits?" Lizzie asks curiously as she cranes her neck to look at vehicle making it's way up to the school. "Perfect opportunity…" she whispers to herself.

"Oh, I forgot!" Alaric drops his bag, suddenly remembering the new student he was expecting. "Hey Caroline," he looks over at her with a sweet smile, "would you mind, uh…" 

Caroling grabs a bag, rolling her eyes. "Really, Ric?" 

"Yeah, dad," Josie mirrors her mother as she grabs a bag, "how are we ever going to teach you to be self-sufficient if you keep relying on our supernatural abilities?" She laughs and extends her free hand over to her sister. 

"Actually," Lizzie walks over to her father, "I think we should stick around out here." Alaric looks at her quizzically, "Isn't it time that we take on more leadership roles in the school? The school started by and run by our darling parents? That will one day be passed down to us?" 

Alaric beams at his blonde daughter, "Uh… we can talk about that whole passing down thing later, but you can definitely shadow your ol' dad and learn about -" 

"Cool! Thanks, dad! Ready, Josie? … Josie?"

Josie doesn’t hear her sister as all her attention has been focused on the girl stepping out of the car. The presence she commands is overwhelming. Josie watches the raven haired girl as she flips her long, wavy hair over her shoulder and reaches back into the car to grab her things. As she re-emerges Josie subconsciously scans her up and down, noticing her heels, tight black jeans, a low cut button up sitting under a fitted blazer, and a perfectly placed ribbon around her neck. Her jaw nearly drops when she notices a shimmering stone on the girl's nose.

Caroline looks at her daughter, following her line of sight before gasping in delight and smiling to herself. "Actually, Ric," she says, "how about you and Lizzie take care of the tour and I'll meet up with you back in the office? Josie and I are going to take the rest of these things up like normal humans. You know, to model self-sufficiency. Right Josie?" She elbows her daughter.

"Oh… umm. Yes, please." Josie suddenly becomes aware of her family staring at her, "I mean, that's a great idea, mom. Happy to help." Josie babbles as she grabs all the remaining bags and runs inside, her face flushed. 

"What the hell, Josie!?" Lizzie yells after her, "we're supposed to be leaders of the school together! I need you! Ugh!" 

Caroline shrugs and makes her way in after her daughter, leaving Ric and Lizzie in the front of the school confused as ever. 

"Well kiddo," Ric says wrapping his arm around his daughter's shoulder, "I guess it’s just you and me bringing in the new recruit. Oh! She's another witch too, I'm sure you'll get a long great!"


	2. You Don't Eat Lunch?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't originally planning for this chapter... but I want to get some Hope stuff in here too. Trying to explain some of the relationships and dynamics between folks as we see them at the beginning of Season 1.
> 
> I promise we'll see Posie interact soon! It's apparently gonna be a sloowww burn y'all.

Chapter 2  
You Don't Eat Lunch?

As they brought up their stuff (with just a little bit of magic to help levitate the bags) Josie and Caroline talked about how much fun they had over the summer with the twins' Aunt Bonnie who had surprised them by showing up at their rental house in New York. Bonnie had been traveling in South America and cut her trip short to spend some time with her best friend and her family.

The twins loved hanging out with Bonnie. She always had exciting stories to share and she taught them incredible things about magic. Caroline and Alaric were grateful for this, as it wasn’t something they could pass along themselves. They tried not to call on her too often, but they did rely on the Bennett witch when they were stuck or needed her expertise. In fact, the twins hadn't noticed the late night conversations the three adults engaged in after they went to bed. They didn’t question it when one of them would disappear for days and return with some story about handling things at the school. Lizzie was having too much fun exploring the city and Josie couldn’t get enough of Bonnie's grimoire.

Once they were done with the luggage, Josie threw herself onto the bed and hid her face under a pillow mumbling something about being exhausted. 

"Exhausted? From what exactly?" Caroline mused sitting on the edge of the bed. "Pretty sure those bags brought themselves up."

Josie peeked out from behind the pillow and looked at her mother, "I don’t know, mom. I guess the trip and all of Lizzie's mental preparation for the new school year… maybe I just need some alone time."

"Oh, wow." Caroline raised her eyebrows at her daughter. "I see. You're kicking me out already?" 

"No, it's not like that mom!" Josie shot up on the bed, "I'm just… I… "

"It's okay, Josie." Caroline made her way up the bed to lay next to her daughter. She placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead. "I should go check in with your dad and Lizzie to makes sure they haven't scared away the new recruit."

Josie blushed at the mention of the wavy haired girl and Caroline heard her heart begin to beat a little faster. "You wouldn’t happen to want to come along to meet her?" 

Josie managed to gain her composure now as she shook her head. "Exhausted. Remember? I'm sure Lizzie will tell me all about her."

"I'm sure she will." Caroline got up and started walking towards the door. She turned to look at her daughter thinking about how beautiful, caring, and smart she was. Anyone would be lucky to be the object of her affection. "Hey, Josie."

"Yeah, mom?"

"If you ever wanna talk… about anything. I mean _anything_. You can."

"Thanks, mom."

"I mean like anything. Like… boys … or something other than boys… "

"Uh, okay, mom!"

"Okay. I love you and I'll see you at dinner." Caroline sent several quick air kisses to her daughter before closing the door.

"Love you too, mom."

After a few moments Josie got up and packed some things to take to the library. She was glad her mom didn't press her, but she wouldn’t be as lucky when Lizzie showed up wondering why she had abandoned her downstairs. She wasn’t sure what had come over here, but she definitely didn’t want to talk about it with her sister. Not until she figured it out anyway. So she decided to hide out for the rest of the day somewhere she wouldn't run into her twin.

Josie wasn’t the only one hiding at the Salvatore School. She had only been at the library for about an hour when she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Josie?" 

"Hope! Umm… hi." Josie cautiously smiled at her… friend? Ex-friend? She wasn’t sure how the two of them stood at the moment. "Did you just get back?" 

Hope took the question as an invitation to sit next to the other witch, "Actually I've been here for a bit." 

"You didn't go home for the summer?!"

"No, I did. I, uh… actually had quite a busy summer."

Josie motioned for her to go on.

"Well… okay, first stop was New Orleans with Aunt Freya and Keelin. Got to hang out with baby Nik and see everyone. It was a lot to deal with actually… so Aunt Rebekah and Marcel took me to New York -" 

"We were in New York too!"

"Yeah," Hope smiled sadly, "I know."

"Why didn't you…?"

"I was only there for a little bit," she added quickly "Aunt Rebekah just took me to so many places and there wouldn’t have been time for anything else, you know?"

"Yeah… sure."

"Plus, it's not like she would have been super excited to hang out with a Bennett witch," Hope laughed, "you know, cuz… history."

"Mhm…" Josie couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. Why did Hope always know what was going on while the twins were left in the dark? Had Alaric gone to see her when he was on "school" business. She wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Well," Hope started again, kicking herself for letting the conversation go south, "like I said, I was just there for a short visit. My Uncle Kol and Davina had me visit them in San Francisco -"

"Wow," Josie said looking back at her book, "sounds like you had a great summer." She immediately regretted it.

"It was more like a 'pass around the orphan' tour…" Hope forced a smile. "Nobody knows what to do with me."

"I'm so sorry Hope, I didn't mean to -"

"It's fine, Josie." she tried reassuring her, "I asked Kol to bring me back here after a few days… only so much to see… and lots of steep hills" she chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "So I've been here the last few weeks. Dorian and Emma were already here preparing and your dad said it would be fine."

Josie tensed at the mention of her dad. So he had been with Hope. Well, of course he had, he was on school business and Hope was at the school. Josie struggled with the conflicting emotions, she felt terrible about everything Hope had gone through, but she found herself feeling jealous of the relationship that had begun to form between the girl and her own father. To add to that, there was the repressed hint of attraction she still felt for Hope and the rejection she felt knowing that she had been in New York and hadn't wanted to see her. It was her own fault really - the fire, the lies - and now Lizzie hated Hope, Hope was a mess, and Josie was the one who made it all happen. 

Josie couldn’t handle the guilt and began packing up her things, "Sorry, Hope. I just remembered I'm supposed to meet Lizzie for lunch. I, uh... I'll see you later."

"Oh. Sure." Hope started as Josie offered her an apologetic smile and walked away, "I don't eat lunch anyway…" she said out loud, "I'll just sit here… by myself... like I do."

"You don’t eat lunch?" The voice startled Hope who thought she was the only one in the library. "Oh, hello there."

~*~*~*~*~


	3. Girls Will be Girls!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie and Penelope were doomed from the start.

Chapter 3  
Girls Will be Girls!

"Josie!"

Josie stopped in her tracks. She was on her way back to her room, hoping to get in and out before her sister showed up. _Here we go,_ she sighed, as she turned to face her sister. 

"Where the FRICKEN hell have you been!?" 

"Lizzie! I was just…" she tried coming up with a lie on the spot.

"Actually. No. Don't answer that. Don't. Because wherever it is you were was NOT where you should have been, which was by my side while I was _Alfred-ing_ around the WORST... scratch that, the SECOND WORST witch I have ever encountered in my entire life. And in case you were wondering, no, the Hollow did not make it to the top of that list. Nor did hot nanny."

"Pretty sure Seline was a Siren."

"NOT the point, Josie!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry!" Josie guided them in the direction of their room again, hoping to prevent a scene before the school year even started. "I was just really tired from the trip," Lizzie raised an eyebrow at her sister. "And…" she continued, "I really wanted to spend some time with mom." Lizzie seemed to consider this. "Plus, you're the one who wanted to be a _Leader for all the Witches and Supernaturals_ or something." They stopped in front of their door. "And you know I need a little time before jumping into social situations." 

Lizzie glared at her sister, arms crossed and still huffing. Josie reached out and pulled Lizzie's hands into her own, immediately calming her. "Was it really that bad?" she asked in a playful tone, garnering a scoff from Lizzie. "Who was this terrible witch anyway?"

**~*~*~*~* Earlier the day ~*~*~*~***

"Fuuuck."

"Language, Penelope."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Mom, pleeease don’t make me stay here. Look at this fucking place!"

"I said language, Penelope!" Her mother, who was sitting next to her in the backseat, put her phone down momentarily to give her daughter a look.

"Okay, okay…" Penelope sighed and laid back in her seat staring out at the building getting bigger in front of them. "It's just so old and creepy," she whined as her mother rolled her eyes.

"Don't be dramatic, Penelope," her mother chuckled and patted her hand, as she continued scrolling through emails on her phone.

This wasn’t the way Penelope envisioned the rest of her high school career. Away from her friends and her coven. Forced to live in an old vampire murder house. Starting over. In the middle of fucking Mystic Falls, Virginia. 

"What if I hate it?"

"Give it a chance, Penny."

"And after that?"

Her mother sighed and put her phone back in her purse as the car came to a stop. "If you give it a real chance and you really aren’t happy…"

"I can leave?"

"We can talk about other options," her mother smiled. "Oh look, there's Alaric and Caroline now. And those must be their daughters. That's exciting, huh? New friends?" 

"Ugh…" Penelope refused to look in the direction her mother was pointing.

"Penelope."

"Mommy dearest."

"Please be nice."

~*~*~*~*~*

"Weren't like a ton of people killed here?"

"Uh…well, that was…" Alaric stammered. 

"And they were VERY famous deaths at that!" Lizzie jumped in with a forced smile, "We are SO rich in history here at the Salvatore School. Rich in history… and deaths… My sister and I know ALL about it. We're close personal friends with the previous owner. You should definitely come to us with any questions."

"Hmm."

Lizzie couldn’t figure the girl out. She had been super nice to her from the start, offering a peppy welcome and plenty of insider information to navigate the school's social scene. All she got back were eye rolls, hmms, and judgey faces. 

Penelope looked around unimpressed as they headed towards the communal spaces. Alaric continued the tour, explaining how this was the only school of its kind with a mixed student population of witches, vampires, and werewolves. He mentioned some of the past challenges and proudly emphasized the success they had in both inter- and intra-group dynamics before excusing himself to separate a couple of wolves who were getting loud by the foosball table.

"Lucky for you, my sister and I basically grew up here and know everything about everyone," Lizzie bragged. "So we can totally guide you in that department."

"Oh, wow," Penelope proclaimed sarcastically once Alaric was out of earshot, "that is like, SO generous of you, your highness."

"Oh, wow. You ARE a bitch. I wasn’t sure at first. But I see it now."

"Sure am. And you're a self-absorbed, wannabe socialite. And I'll pass on your little offer."

"Oh, the offer is LONG gone you ungrateful - "

"Lizzie! Hey!" The witches were interrupted as another student approached, arms wide open heading in Lizzie's direction.

"Oomph." Lizzie smiled into her friend's embrace, "Hi, MG!" Revved up as she was, she couldn’t hide how nice it was to see her friend and feel his protective arms around her. Penelope's eyes softened for a moment as she watched the two friends. 

"Hey there," MG released Lizzie, extending a hand towards Penelope, "I'm MG. Wordsmith, fashion icon, and the vamp you call if you need anything done around here." He ended his introduction with a spin.

"What he means," Lizzie cut in, "is resident comic nerd and nicest guy you'll ever meet." Lizzie smiled sweetly at her friend who was suddenly staring at the floor blushing - a combination of flattered and embarrassed at Lizzie's comment. 

Penelope rolled her eyes, "SO nice to meet one of the Saltzman's loyal subjects," she said, bowing dramatically.

"Uhhhh…" 

"Ignore her, MG. She sucks."

"LIZZIE!" Alaric suddenly reappeared. 

"Dad! I was just introducing Penelope to some of the other students," she said, ignoring her father's stern look. "And bee tee dubs, MG is a prime example of that exemplary inter-student dynamic you were mentioning earlier. You should totally give him a student leadership position too."

"Well Lizzie, I haven't really -" 

"Dr. Saltzman," MG looked up at Alaric with a serious look on his face and a hand on his chest, "I would be honored to provide you with any assistance you may need."

"Milton, we don't even - " 

"As a Vampire! As a man! As a proud member of this fine institution…also please call me MG, sir," he quickly added, bowing. "Thank you."

"Well," Alaric thought about it, "I supposed I could use some help."

"Yes!" Lizzie and MG high fived. Penelope leaned on the wall looking bored. 

"Okay, then," Alaric said, "MG, will you please escort Ms. Park through the rest of the ground floor while I have a quick word with my daughter? Feel free to stop by the kitchen for some snacks."

"Yes, sir." MG saluted Alaric, eliciting a giggle from Penelope. "It would be my pleasure." He offered his arm to Penelope who took it and winked at Lizzie who sneered as they walked away.

"Lizzie," Alaric began.

"Dad," she interjected, "we were just joshing. You know, girls will be girls!"

"No, umm... actually. We need to talk about Hope."

~*~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Wish I could do longer chapters, but it's just not feasible at the time.


	4. Loyalties Will be Tested

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post earlier this week but my partner and I went on a DOPE 100-mile bike ride over the weekend and then jumped right back into work on Tuesday... so I've been a little tired and busy. 
> 
> Speaking of weekends, it's gonna be a hot one out here on the west coast! If you're able to, consider passing out cold water to your houseless neighbors. 
> 
> Posie interaction in... 1-2 chapters!

Chapter 4  
Loyalties WILL be Tested

The rest of the weekend passed by quickly enough. Lizzie and Josie spent most of the time making over their room to create a feeling of _new-ness for the new us_ , per Lizzie, in preparation for the beginning of the term.

Although she initially agreed to the project as an excuse to avoid running into certain witches who might elicit certain complicated feelings, Josie had to admit that it was actually pretty fun. Moving around furniture and redoing the space with her sister reminded her of the bond they shared and how effortless their connection could be. It also felt really good to make some changes to their living area and made her feel like she could try to reinvent herself as well, maybe even focus more on some individual interests.

Lizzie was also excited for some reinvention. She spent much of the day sharing her plans on how to become more relatable and approachable to their classmates. It mostly included getting a popular boyfriend and infiltrating specific social groups. It also included staying very far away from Hope. Lizzie chose not to mention the conversation she'd had with her father to Josie. He had asked that the twins set aside their differences and be friendly with Hope who was going through a "difficult time." He also mentioned that he was going to start training the tribrid to help her control her expanding powers and that werewolf strength that was recently thrust upon her.

"What do you think about Jed?"

"Isn't he into-"

"You're right. Too into bulking up and ordering around his mutts. I need someone with a little more social flexibility…"

Lizzie's thoughts continued jumping from social strategizing back to Hope. She knew that Josie would just be upset when she found out what their dad had requested of them. After everything they'd been through, she thought it best to keep the information to herself, at least for now. There was no way they were going to go back to being best friends with that witch. It wasn’t enough that Hope had sabotaged their spring break last year by setting fire to her own room, she had to take it a step further by trying to get between the sisters with gossip. In the end, it was Josie who told Lizzie about Hope spreading those awful rumors. And now she was trying to usurp their place with their dad... Lizzie figured it would be best to let the year start off on a positive note before allowing any drama to tarnish it. 

As the interior decorating progressed, the twins took breaks to grab lunch and have dinner with their parents at the Mystic Grill. By Sunday night they felt relaxed and mentally prepared for the school year to begin.

"Good night, Josette," Lizzie snuggled into her pillow. "Tomorrow we start anew." 

Josie smiled at her sister tenderly. "Good night, Lizzie."

~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning the twins were in a great mood. They joked around and giggled as they got ready for their first day back. They helped each other pick out outfits and made plans to meet up for lunch and between classes. By the time they were ready to head out, Josie was just as excited as Lizzie was. The smiled at each other as they stepped out of the room.

As Josie finished placing a locking spell on the door, she felt Lizzie tense up next to her. 

"Holy witch mother."

Josie turned to see what her sister was going on about. "What are you… Oh."

The Saltzman twins stood motionless in front of their door staring down the hall as Penelope Park, in black ankle length slacks, a white button up, and a _fricken cape_ hanging off her shoulders, strutted in their direction flanked by a small group of witches. As she passed by, Penelope glanced over, raising an eyebrow at Lizzie and smirking (completely ignoring Josie, which did not go unnoticed) before flipping her cape and continuing forward.

"How does she ALREADY have minions?" Lizzie seemed panicked.  
Josie gaped,"Since when are capes part of our uniform?"

"She JUST got here."  
"I hadn't even considered it."

"Those are supposed to be MY minions!"  
"Do you think she sewed the emblem on herself?" 

"Josie!" Lizzie pulled her sister's arm, breaking her daze, "You are focusing on the WRONG thing here." She led them in the opposite direction towards the staircase. "Oh, right," Josie followed her sister down the stairs and to the dining hall, still a little distracted. "Minions. We'll for sure get you some. And we'll look into the cape thing…" Lizzie gave her a look, "because, it’s totally unfair, right? I mean, one person should not be allowed to look so good," another pause, "which is _probably_ how she got her minions!" 

Lizzie considered her sister's comment. "I suppose that's not outrageously outside the realm of possibility. Like if it were a magic cape maybe… I mean feel free to investigate Jo, but - "

"What are we investigating?" MG suddenly appeared between them, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders.

"It's nothing," Josie said quickly. "Lizzie is trying to figure out how to out-minion the new girl."

"And Josie is apparently obsessed with capes now. Have you been indoctrinating her with your nerd books again?"

MG laughed at the twins' antics. He had missed his two closest friends. He hadn't been able to go back home since his human death, so he had spent the summer couch surfing with various vamps before deciding to spend the last few weeks of the break back at the Salvatore School. He had a nice enough time, but he was excited to be around the Saltzmans again, especially listening to Lizzie's theories and scheming. He couldn’t hide the joy in his face wondering what might be up her sleeve this time. "The new girl, as in Penelope?"

"That's the one," Lizzie said through clenched her teeth.

The trio gathered their breakfast items and took a seat at their usual table. Josie tried to steer the conversation away from Penelope, but new recruits were a popular topic at the Salvatore School. MG explained what the twins had missed while they were in home décor mode. He told them how Penelope had spent her first day on campus laying out on the field reading, while some of their peers observed her from the bleachers. When she finally got tired of the ogling and whispering, she flicked her wrist and a row of seats crashed down, bringing several students down with it like dominoes. 

"It was so cool," MG mused. "I got some serious Poison Ivy vibes." Lizzie rolled her eyes mumbling about the accuracy of the poison description as he continued explaining. After that, most of the students were too terrified to even look Penelope's way. The next morning though, a few witches requested to sit by her, eliciting a shrug from the new girl. By the afternoon, a small clique had formed around her. Penelope didn’t seem to care either way and allowed the company. 

"You're pretty well versed in her popularity backstory," Lizzie spoke up with a twinge of… jealousy, was it?

"Wellll," MG said, "you two were busy. I had to hang out with someone."

"YOU HUNG OUT WITH HER!?" Lizzie stood up suddenly looking angry and betrayed. Startled, MG tried to backtrack, "I mean, like what IS hanging out, really? Like, did I talk to her? Sure. Ask her how her day was going? That's only polite. But like, hanging OUT, like WE hang out? I don’t think that’s possible."

Lizzie glared at her friend while her sister sat her back down and guided her in some deep breathing. Once she was calm, she stood up again and grabbed her things. "Whatever, MG. We're going to class. Let's go, Josie."

Josie gave the dejected vampire an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, she'll get over it," she whispered and gave him a side hug. 

"I hope you know loyalties WILL be tested this year." Lizzie called out as she stomped away. Josie quickly grabbed her half eaten muffin and back-bag in order to catch up to her sister. As she raised her head, she caught sight of the girl they had been arguing about. She was just standing there, leaning against a wall and looking in their direction... had she been watching them? As soon as their eyes met, the girl turned and walked away.

~*~*~*~*~


	5. This Will be an Interesting Experiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm a few days late, but here it is - and a little longer than usual! 
> 
> FIRST POSIE INTERACTION!  
> A little bit of Hope in here too.   
> Always some Lizzie.   
> Alyssa Chang is Penelope's roommate apparently!
> 
> I was able to break out of my writers block by having a lot of work to do and choosing to write fanfic instead. YAY!

Chapter 4  
This will be an Interesting Experiment

Josie was confused. She might have also been a little mad… which added to the confusion. After that first day, it seemed like Penelope and Lizzie were going to have it out for each other. She assumed that bantering and insults would be commonplace. She assumed that Penelope would be more of a constant in her life… because of the feud with Lizzie of course. If anything though, it seemed like she'd mostly been avoiding them. If she ever did cross paths with the twins, she might roll her eyes and say something like, "oh, it's princess Lizzie… and the other one," and not even stick around for Lizzie's comeback or even spare a glance at Josie. During the few classes that they shared, Penelope sat on the other end of the room and never looked her way. Josie wondered if the girl even realized they were in the same class. She had never felt so invisible.

Lizzie of course wasn't upset about this. She had been worried that Penelope would try to steal her pending throne, but the new girl seemed to be socially… Lazy? Indifferent? She wasn’t sure, but she no longer saw her as a threat. As such, she spent a lot of time (dragging Josie along with her) trying to engage with their peers. The more she tried though, the more difficult it became. It wasn’t all her fault, some people just have no sense of humor. When she greeted the chess club with the Vulcan salute and a "what's up nerds," they just grabbed their things and stomped away. She didn’t fare much better with other groups around the school, addressing them as "you over there… overgrown gremlins… teen wolf-man… count what's your name… twiddle dee and dums… ratatouille…" and those were just the compliments.

They hadn't seen much of Hope either. She never seemed to be there when they went down for breakfast, something Josie found odd and Lizzie just shrugged off. She found this odd too. Even though Lizzie said she hated Hope, Josie expected her to at least be curious about her whereabouts or at least have some sarcastic remark about what she might be doing. After the second week of not being surprised by Hope's absence, Josie confronted Lizzie. 

"Don't you even have _some_ theory about what Hope could be doing?" Josie asked, exasperated.

"Why would I waste any energy thinking about the sordid affairs of that attention seeking life ruiner?" Lizzie shot back.

"Well, that's funny, considering your dad asked you to play nice," a voice stated matter of factly, followed by a sauntering Penelope Park, noticeably devoid of her usual posse. 

"What? What are you talking about?" Josie tried to hide her surprise as she turned and eyed Penelope. It was the first time the two made direct eye contact since Josie caught her staring two weeks ago and Josie hoped she wasn’t blushing. Penelope raised a curious eyebrow at her.

"Butt out, Polly Pocket," Lizzie jumped between them, interrupting their impromptu eye staring contest and eliciting a look of confusion on Penelope's face. "Don't listen to her, Josie. She's just trying to instigate."

"That's not UNtrue," Penelope smirked with a sudden look of realization on her face, "but neither is what I said." She winked at Josie before continuing down the hall, waving her fingers behind her, "see you in class."

Josie stared until Penelope walked out of view and then snapped her attention back to her sister, arms crossed expectantly. "What was that about?"

"Okay, the thing is…" Lizzie started, but was suddenly interrupted by the warning bell. "Oh gosh," she snapped a finger in mock disappointment and began backing away from her sister, "I would hate to be late to Supernatural Truths and Myths."

"Lizzie!" Josie called out to her sister whose class was in the opposite direction.

"After class, Josie," she replied running off. "I promise!"

~*~*~*~*~* Earlier ~*~*~*~*~*

While most of the other students were just waking up and having breakfast, Hope was making her way back into the school after her morning training session with Alaric. She had to admit that it was nice blowing off some steam early in the morning. She had been feeling angsty and sad recently, two of her least favorite emotions, and she worried what might happen if those feelings evolved into anger. Although she'd gotten pretty good at managing these internal things, this year was starting to feel especially difficult and she wanted to make sure she kept on top of it, starting with daily exercise and keeping clear of any unnecessary drama.

"So you don't eat breakfast either?"

"Penelope." Hope smiled at the girl who suddenly appeared walking by her side, "Good morning to you too." Hope realized this was one of the few people who had the courage to approach her so freely - likely because she was new and didn’t know anything about her reputation and family chronology. 

Penelope continued eyeing her curiously, waiting for a response. 

"I like to have an early start," Hope chuckled as she looked around. "Where's your witchy posse?"

It was Penelope's turn to laugh now. "Ah, well. We are a very healthily individuated group."

"So you told them to fuck off?"

"I told them to fuck off."

The two of them laughed as they continued down the hall where both their rooms were located.

"So what about you?" Penelope asked. "Don't you have any friends?"

"Ah," Hope shook her head, scrunching her nose, "friends are overrated. Too much responsibility. Don’t you think?" 

Penelope shrugged, "I don’t know. I had some at my old school."

"Well, being friends with me can be dangerous," Hope stated, coming off a bit sadder than she intended, "you may not have heard, but I ruin people's lives."

"I may have heard," Penelope responded teasingly, "seems fitting."

Hope shook her head again and stopped walking as they reached her room. "Well, this is my stop." 

Penelope nodded her head and pursed her lips, not making any indication of leaving.

Hope sighed. "Look, Penelope. I don't think we should be friends."

"Wow," Penelope smiled trying not to seem hurt, "that's awfully presumptuous of you."

"Things just don't turn out well for - " 

"People who are your friends," Penelope nodded her head and looked away as she finished her sentence, "Yeah, I got it the first several times. And from various sources."

"I just have a lot going on right now."

"Right."

"And whatever it is you've got going on with the Saltzman twins…"

"Ah! Okay," Penelope scoffed shaking her head, "no, I get it now."

"I just don’t wanna be in the middle of it," Hope pleaded, "I can't."

"What happened, did you date them both or something?"

"No…" Hope shook her head, blushing, "nothing like that ever happened."

Penelope stood there with her hands on her hips and exhaled loudly. "Well this is awkward and unfamiliar. I don’t know if I should feel offended or … offended." 

"Look, you're one of the few people in this school who seems to care and I appreciate that."

"Don't flatter yourself," Penelope's demeanor had hardened, "you're just the only person in this fucking place who doesn’t seem to categorically love me or hate me."

"And that's something you're not used to?"

"No…" Penelope cocked her head to the side, "I definitely am" she admitted, letting out a laugh, "but there's usually a good reason. I've only been at this place for like two weeks. It's weird."

"Well," Hope tried to patch things up, "consider me Switzerland."

"Fuck Switzerland."

Hope sighed. "You're just new. They'll get over it."

"Well, " Penelope took a few steps back, "that advice was a little too friendly for non-friends, so I guess… goodbye, and your loss." And with that she turned and walked away.

"That's fair," Hope said softly to herself as she made her way into her room to get ready for class. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Penelope was pissed after her interaction with Hope. Sure, they had only really engaged with each other that first day after Penelope decided to rummage around in the library, but after a quick vent fest, they found that they really clicked and could have fun together. They had both seemed to be in need of a friend - Hope needed someone to distract her from the bullshit that had happened in the past and Penelope needed to be around someone who was genuine and didn’t have any expectations of her. 

So Hope gave her the Salvatore School "unofficial, completely true, gore tour," complete with all the gruesome details of what happened where and when, followed by the, you guessed it, Mystic Falls "unofficial, completely true, gore tour," which included just as much gruesome details. Penelope hadn't pried about how Hope knew all these things she swore were true, nor did she comment on the way she seemed to have a soft spot for some of the more notorious villains or the connections she made about Hope. Their day ended with dinner at the Mystic Grill and ice cream. Penelope thought for sure she had met someone cool that she could hang out with at this new school. 

It turned out her new bff was really busy though. After that first day, she barely even saw Hope. Even once classes started and they ran into each other in the halls, Hope always made some excuse about having to meet with the headmaster or being late to something. At least there was MG who, silly as he was, turned out to be a pretty decent guy she could see herself being close with. Time would tell.

This morning had been the most Penelope and Hope had talked since their first encounter and it left Penelope feeling deeply disappointed, hurt, and in need of someone to blame. 

Enter Lizzie Saltzman. 

~*~*~*~*~* Back to Present Time ~*~*~*~*~* 

Although Penelope thought Lizzie was pretty annoying, she found her harmless enough. She also didn't care to start the year off with any dramatics, so she had decided to back off a bit. Though she still couldn’t help pushing Lizzie's buttons here and there. 

As for her twin Josie, Penelope didn’t know how to act in front of her. She felt this resounding need to get to know her, but for some reason she was also extremely nervous about how to make that happen. She had seen her and Hope on friendly enough terms that first day, which made her confused about their strained relationship. She didn’t really buy that platonic nonsense. She'd also heard things here and there around the school, but she wasn’t sure how much she could trust teen gossip.

Instead, Penelope learned the most about Josie by watching the sisters' interactions, as well as the few moments she witnessed Josie without Lizzie, which only occurred during the couple of classes they shared. She got caught early on and couldn’t read Josie's reaction, so she decided she had to be less obvious. She swapped a few spells with her roommate Alyssa Chang, and learned how to make herself temporarily invisible, which was pretty neat. She and Alyssa weren't exactly friends, but they respected each other's reluctance to be anything but annoyed at everyone and everything at all times. It was nice. She used the newly learned spell to stealthily observe, not just the Saltzmans, but various other people at the school. 

The warning bell rang as Penelope made her way to her seat. She wondered if Josie was going to show up to class or if she and her sister would be busy arguing somewhere. She hadn't actually meant to spill any secrets when she brought up the conversation she had overheard between Lizzie and the headmaster, she just wanted to throw some spite at Lizzie after what had happened with Hope that morning. She definitely didn't expect Josie to confront her like she had. Penelope had come to see her as more passive and submissive. It definitely heightened the draw she felt towards her. She subconsciously started thinking about how cute Josie was when she pouted, how she rolled her eyes whenever Lizzie acted like… well, Lizzie, and how hot it was when they locked eyes earlier and Josie raised her voice at her. Penelope felt herself shiver involuntarily.

Right on cue, Josie barged into the classroom. Instead of going to her usual seat at the front, she took the chair next to Penelope's and turned it to face Penelope who was completely caught off guard.

"What was that all about?" Josie demanded.

"Umm.. I think someone else is sitting- " Penelope tried to explain.

"They can sit somewhere else," she snapped, as the student whose seat she was in was about to tap her shoulder, changing their mind at the last second and making their way to the empty seat in front of the class. "Tell me what my dad and Lizzie were talking about."

"I.. I don’t know," Penelope stammered, an unfamiliar feeling filled her chest, "I heard them talking during that boring ass tour."

"What did my dad say?"

"I don’t really know much more than what I already said," Penelope shrugged. "Honestly," she added, noticing Josie look of uncertainty, "I didn’t stick around. I would tell you."

Josie continued studying her face as the bell rang indicating the beginning of class. Professor Williams hushed everyone and began the class by scribbling the day's lecture on the board. _Supernatural Blood: Poison, Cure, All of the Above._

"Too bad you weren't there by the way," Penelope whispered, signature smirk reemerging. She had regained her composure and her confidence, "it would have made for a way more interesting tour."

Josie tried not to react to the comment. She wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a compliment or a distraction. She had also quickly regained her composure and was taking meticulous notes. 

"Where were you anyway?" Penelope was very much not taking notes.

"I was busy" Josie said quickly. 

"Hmm… it's just weird because you two are just ALWAYS together. And I was kind of under the impression you shared a brain or something," she chucked to herself. 

Josie wasn’t sure what Penelope was trying to do. She felt like the girl wanted to get a rise out of her and she couldn’t give her the satisfaction. At the same time, this was the most she had ever even spoken to Josie. The combination of annoyance and allure was circulating throughout her body and she felt ready to explode. 

"So you don’t like, tell each other EVERYTHING?" she continued teasing her.

"No." Josie responded firmly, "We DON'T!" 

"Ms. Saltzman" Mr. Williams called her out suddenly, "is there something you would like to add?"

"No, Mr. Williams," Josie said quickly, noticeably embarrassed. 

"Ms. Park?"

"No sir, I apologize. I was just asking Josie if we ever experiment with different forms of blood magic at this school."

"Well, Penelope, maybe you and Josie can do a little research tonight and give us a short presentation tomorrow on blood magic and blood mixing."

"Kinky," someone in the back stated loudly. 

The classroom burst out in laughter. 

"Ms. Chang, please."

"Sorry, Mr. Williams," Alyssa said methodically, not sounding sorry at all. 

Josie glared at Penelope who gave her an apologetic shrug and mouthed a genuine looking "sorry." 

Although neither was happy about the extra work, they weren't doing a great job at suppressing the smiles that slowly appeared and stayed plastered on their faces throughout the rest of class. 

Alyssa immediately noticed their dopey looks and rolled her eyes, "THIS will be an interesting experiment," she said to herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~


	6. Why would we be friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for delay and super short chapter! 
> 
> I wanted to get a little more content in before posting... but I've had this written for a while and haven't had time to write the rest yet. Felt like I should post SOMETHING so you don't forget about me!

Chapter 6  
Why Would We Be Friends?

"Hey, wait!"

As soon as Mr. Williams dismissed the class, Josie had gotten out of her seat and headed towards the door. She didn’t expect the other girl to follow her. 

"We haven't formally met," she smiled, blocking Josie's path and extending her hand, "I'm Penelope."

Josie hesitantly took her hand, "I know who you are, Penelope."

"Oh, good!" Penelope laughed, "I know who you are, too." She was still grasping Josie's hand.

Josie pulled away from Penelope's grip, rolling her eyes and looking away to hide the blush she felt creeping up her neck. "I'm surprised."

Penelope gave her a quizzical look. Josie found it absolutely adorable how she cocked her head to the side like a puppy.

"Well you've been so busy either trading barbs with or avoiding my sister..." she wasn't expecting to reveal her frustrations so openly. Was she complaining? What was she complaining about?

"I'm sorry," Penelope was smirking now, "who is your sister? And why are we talking about her?"

Although she knew the question was in jest, Josie felt some gratification in not being compared to or seen through someone else's dynamic with Lizzie. She couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes again. "Okay then," she relented, "hi, Penelope. I'm Josie."

"Pleasure to meet you, Josie. Would that be short for…" she tapped her chin, pretending to think, "Josette, right? I mean, obviously."

"Making fun of my name?"

"No, I think it's beautiful." 

The two of them eyed each other for a moment, neither knowing what to say next.

"So." Penelope said, bringing them both back from their daze, "I just figured you would want to work on the assignment? You don’t seem the type to dilly dally with school work." 

"Oh, right." Josie seemed to have forgotten their punishment amidst whatever this was. Did she say something about her being a type? What does Penelope know about what type of anything she is? Is she Penelope's type?

"So…" Penelope raised an eyebrow in question. 

"Right, umm," Josie was having trouble remembering her schedule with Penelope looking at her like that, "how about we meet at the library after…" Piercing green eyes bore into her. She couldn't piece together times and locations. When was her free period? What day was it even?

"After…?"

"Yes, after. I will find you after," she said quickly, waving a hand at the confused girl and exiting the classroom. 

Penelope stood there for a moment wondering when and where and what "after" would be. 

"Well that went well." Alyssa had been watching the encounter by the door.

"You're a jerk," Penelope glared at her roommate in mock anger. Alyssa tried to stifle a laugh but they both broke, cracking up as they headed out of the class and back to their shared room.

"So you like her or what?"

"What? No."

"That's probably for the best."

"Shut up."

"Lunch?"

"Sure."

"This doesn't mean we're friends."

"Ew. Why would we be friends?"

~*~*~*~*~*~


	7. That's cute that you think you're special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How are Josie and Penelope coping after their first meeting? 
> 
> I didn't expect Alyssa to show up as much as she has so far... I guess I like writing her! Agree or disagree?
> 
> Let me know what you think!

Chapter 7

It's cute that you think you're special

Josie was SO embarrassed. She had no idea what had come over her. Lizzie was the one who let her emotions get the best of her, not her. She was the twin who held it together. She was the one who was calm and collected. Yet somehow, over the span of a few hours she had let her emotions get the best of her _several_ times in front of Penelope.

It was all Lizzie's fault. _She's_ the one who got her all riled up earlier - and she still had no idea what she was keeping from her about Hope and her dad!

As Josie made her way back to her room, she mentally prepared for the task ahead. If Lizzie hadn’t told her about the conversation she’d had with her dad earlier, it must be something bad and she must have wanted to keep it a secret for as long as she could. That meant that it wouldn’t be easy to get Lizzie to spill. She had no time to think about why she couldn’t talk to the adorably infuriating witch with the green eyes, and nose piercing, and cool clothes, and -

_Stop Josie_! She caught herself straying back to thoughts of Penelope. _Focus on the task at hand._ She took a deep breath as she reached her room and placed her hand on the doorknob ready to interrogate and prepared to not take no for an answer.

Instead, she found herself in an empty room. Josie scowled. _Where the hell is Lizzie?_ She looked around the room and noticed a note on her bed. Rolling her eyes she picked it up, wondering what ridiculous excuse Lizzie would have.

_"Dearest sister. I'd like to first remind you of how much you love me and I you. Please also think back on the wonderful moments we've shared these past few weeks, as well as this past summer._

_Keep thinking about them…_

_Are you smiling? Great. I have not forgotten our agreement to talk, but as luck would have it, I was invited to referee a game of Witches and Goblins. As you know, I am working on my social outreach and could not decline. Also, Pedro was VERY excited and how can I say not to that adorable little guy?_

_I will talk to you tonight. Promise!_

_xo -Lizzie "_

"UGH!" Josie crumbled up the piece of paper in frustration. She didn't want to be mad about Lizzie spending time with Pedro, but she also couldn’t help wonder how much of the referee idea might actually be part of a Lizzie scheme to buy herself time.

Her mind wandered back to Penelope. She might as well get started on that report until their meeting - _oh crap_ , Josie began to panic, _When are we meeting? Where are we meeting?_ She suddenly remembered her failure at effective communication earlier. She winced at the recollection of her muddled responses when Penelope had been trying to coordinate.

After a few minutes of pacing and trying to decide what to do, Josie finally decided to head to the library. She didn't know where Penelope's room was and she doubted Penelope would come looking for her anywhere she might run into Lizzie. Yes, despite Josie's brain trying to erase all memories of their exchange, the library seemed like a logical location they would have decided on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Over on the other side of the school, there was another witch pacing around her room. Her roommate had been watching her with amusement over her book, trying to decide what spell she should try out on the distracted girl.

Fortunately for Penelope, Alyssa decided that any prank would be too pitiful to be funny and eventually got bored of sitting around watching the tragedy in front of her.

"Oh my GODDESS, Penelope." Alyssa slammed her book shut, startling her roommate. "This is just pathetic."

"What!?"

"I thought you weren't into her?"

"I'm NOT!"

"Oh?"

"I mean… I don't even know who you're talking about"

"Oh, please. You were quite all through lunch and hardly ate anything after that disastrous attempt to flirt after class."

"That's not true… I ate some!"

Penelope had in fact eaten _some_ … what she didn’t know was that Alyssa and Kaleb had taken turns adding various seasonings and moving things around her plate to see if she'd notice. Eventually Kaleb had just begun eating straight off the plate. "I'm a growing boy!" He had said to Alyssa when she raised an eyebrow at him. "The only way you vamps grow is horizontally," she had shot back. Kaleb had laughed at this and rolled up his sleeve so that Alyssa could feel the horizontal growth of his biceps, which she did without hesitation. They both blushed and went back to messing with Penelope who was so lost in her thoughts that she had missed the whole interaction.

Alyssa sighed dramatically and got up from her bed. "Look," she said as she packed her bag, "from one bitch to another, I'd advise against pursuing anything with the Saltzman twins."

"Look," Penelope retorted, crossing her arms in annoyance, "I have no intention of pursuing anything with the Saltzman TWINS. Not really into that."

Alyssa eyed her for a moment before shaking her head and laughing, "it's cute that you think you're special."

She was out the door before Penelope could ask what the hell she meant by that. "What the hell is it with everyone and the Saltzmans!?" she exclaimed to the now empty room.

Exasperated, Penelope threw herself backwards onto her bed. Her mind drifted back to the pouty girl with the brown eyes... She hadn't even decided what she felt about Josie and was already getting backlash for just merely interacting with her - first from Hope and now Alyssa.

Meanwhile, images of Josie kept invading her thoughts. She smiled thinking back to their encounter earlier that day. In one moment Josie had been quiet and reserved and the next moment she was kicking someone out of their seat in order to berate Penelope. She was definitely into it. What she wasn't into was all the Lizzie nonsense...

Maybe she _should_ proceed with caution. Cute as she was, the last thing she wanted was to have drama with the Headmasters' daughter... or daughters apparently.

Penelope squeezed her eyes shut and sighed, whether she liked Josie or not, they still had a report to work on together. And her mom would definitely not even consider letting her leave this place if she wasn't acing her classes as proof that she was "trying."

With that final thought, Penelope grabbed her bag and headed to the library. She figured she could start doing some research while she waited for "after" to come. As she walked out into the hall, she found herself smiling again thinking how flustered she had made Josie. "Who am I kidding?" Penelope chuckled to herself, "We're fucking doomed."

~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone's doing okay and staying safe!
> 
> Next chapter in probably a month or so (after finals).


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